


And You Are?

by whoviangirlfromgallifrey



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 03:00:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14071470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoviangirlfromgallifrey/pseuds/whoviangirlfromgallifrey
Summary: Felicity Smoak never expected to be working for the most anal guy in New York. Nor did she plan to fall for him. She isn't sure if she can resist the charming man beneath the gruff exterior though once she gets to know him





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is totally crack that blossomed into something oddly wonderful. Please be kind in your reviews as flames will be used to roast marshmallows. I am aware that many people in the Arrow and LoT fandoms hate these two character but I like both and so I will not tolerate reviews that say how much the characters are hated!!!

Felicity Smoak entered the building and her heels clacked on the floor as she made her way to the elevator. It was her first official day working in New York since applying for a job and graduating from college. She was excited but not green enough to show it in her face as she waited for the elevator to open and then stepped inside.

When she entered the elevator, she sighed. The first day of a new job was always the hardest. She watched the numbers tick by as they lit up upon reaching the specificed floor before dinging pleasantly and sliding open to let her off at her floor. She stepped out of tge elevator, her heels muffled by the expensive carpet lining the floor and made her way into the large, open reception area. She smiled at the brunette behind the computer desk as she stopped in front of her. "Hello, I'm here for my first day of work" she winced at how dumb she sounded. The brunette looked up from her typing and smiled at Felicity. "Take a seat, I'll let Mr. Hunter know you're here" she said and Felicity figured she was friendly enough. She smiled in thanks and went to sit in the little reception area near the floor to ceiling window, staring out it at the street below. 

Upon learning she was hired with the company, Felicity had taken an opportunity to do some digging concerning both the company she now worked for, and the man who would be her boss and business partner. Most of her sources had said he was a philandering womanizer so her guard was up until she saw for herself what sort of man he was. "Mr. Hunter is ready for you" the brunette chirped as she pulled Felicity out of her thoughts and back to reality. She looked at her and stood, smoothing her skirt down. "Thank you" she said as she began to walk toward the office. "Good luck" the receptionist called to her with a chuckle, wondering what this pretty young woman had gotten herself into.

She stopped when she was in front of the closed office door with a small silver nameplate that read Rip Hunter- CEO in small lettering. She took a deep breath, tugged on the tail of her dress jacket and then straightened her shoulders and knocked on the door. "Enter" a soft male voice called. And she thought she detected a hint of an accent as well. She turned the door knob and entered a dark paneled office with a desk in the far corner, situated in front of a single floor to ceiling window. There were two floor pots with growing ferns on either side of the double doors she had just come through. There was a couch in the opposite corner, with a long low coffee table in front of it and a chair and a small square desk between the chair and the couch. On the table beside the chair sat a small desk lamp. A third potted plant sat on the floor behind it. 

Felicity's eyes were drawn back to the desk, where a young man in her age range sat, looking over a pile of papers on the desk and scowling. While he was preoccupied, she continued to stare at him. He was slouched over the papers on the desk, his ginger blond hair sheered short and styled, his suit pressed and tailored to fit his body. She stood there silently, watching him until he finally looked up and noticed her. His head cocked to the side as he appraised her, as if he were shocked by and trying to figure out her existence. Felicity kept her professionalism and extended her hand as she stepped closer. "Felicity Smoak. And you're Rip Hunter" she took his hand in hers and shook it. 

Rip Hunter again stared at her oddly as she released his hand and stood there waiting for his instructions. "Have we met before?" He asked her as he turned back to the papers on the desk. Felicity shook her head and felt her face heat up at his question and dismissal at the same time. "Hmmm......you seem familiar....or rather your face does" he continued. She didn't speak but just continued to stand there and wish the floor would swallow her up. This day was turning into a disaster already.


	2. Fury, Rage, Indignation.....Drinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After one of the worst days ever, Felicity seeks advice from an old friend....and maybe gets a bit drunk in the process.

She had never been so glad to have a workday come to an end. After the embarassing spectacle in Rip Hunter's office, the day hadn't improved. She had spent the majority of the afternoon after her lunch hour in her own office trying not to cry. It wasn't that her coworkers weren't nice enough. Herself and Gideon, the receptionist, had enjoyed a nice lunch together and gotten to know one another and she was pleasant and sweet but her boss had seen fit to embarrass her further through the day, looking at her in disappointment and disbelief every time she made a mistake.

She wallowed through her shower before deciding she had done enough for the day, changing and heading out to meet up with Ray. As she sat down with her friend, she could already feel a weight lifting from her shoulders and she sipped at the beer he had bought for her, the alcohol leaving a bitter burn in her throat as it went down. She was grateful for the snacks that Ray had the foresight to order as well when they arrived at the table and she grabbed one of the loaded nachoes from the plate and stuffed it into her mouth in the most undignified manner possible. 

"Whoa!" Ray muttered under his breath as he watched her. He hadn't seen her this upset since she had failed her accounting class in college. Maybe failed was the wrong way of putting it, though Felicity certainly had made it seem as if it were a failure. "Might want to pace yourself there. Its a bit early to be getting crazy with the nachoes" he teased her with a small smile, hoping she would bite. 

"Shut up" she shot back after chewing and swallowing the food in her mouth, and he was thankful to see her smiling as she spoke. "It was a very rough day. Like worse than you'd expect" her eyes grew sad and she fell silent again. 

Ray frowned slightly and then grabbed her hand and squeezed it just slightly. "So tell me what happened. I can get us more booze and food if we need it but I definitely have the time to hear about everything"

Felicity momentarily went silent again, probably in an attempt to gather her thoughts before she sighed and launched into the story of her day. 

"Everything was fine when I walked in, I mean....it was the usual speaking to reception and then I went to meet the boss.....Mr. Hunter....." she nearly burst into tears as the events of the day replayed in her mind.

Ray sat there patiently, his hand still holding hers as he waited for her to continue the story. He gave her hand a squeeze as he smiled slightly at her but didn't speak, waiting for her to continue so he wouldn't interrupt her thoughts. 

"Sorry" Felicity mumbled with a sniffle as she composed herself to continue. She grabbed another nacho before and began chewing on it. "Anyway, I went to his office to meet him and he looked at me as if I were an alien. Then he asked me if I had met him before and when I said no, he was so cold and unfriendly. He asked me to do something and when I did, I ended up tripping, messing up his desk, breaking a potted plant and knocking all the papers off his desk and to the floor. And if it couldn't get worse, he constantly watched me with this mix of disappointment and disbelief on his face" she finally let the whole story spill out. "And then when I was trying to show him a more efficient way to calculate the costs and fees associated with a project, I ended up dropping the laptop and cracking the screen on it" she sighed as she seemed to lose steam at the end of the whole story. 

Ray couldn't help smiling at the thought of Felicity nervous and messing up in such a predictable way when she prided herself on being so prepared for everything. He straightened his expression though when she looked back up at him again though. "I'm sorry all of that happened Felicity" he said sincerely. "Maybe its just first day jitters?" He suggested by way of explanation. 

Felicity was instantly shaking her head at his words. "No, I'm just a klutz and he was so unnerving. I'm positive he hates me" she lamented as she took a sip of her beer again. 

"You are not" Ray said hotly with a frown. "You're the smartest programmer I know and that's saying something given I know several" he added to the end. He had been nursing a secret crush on Felicity for years but he'd never wanted to upset the balance of their friendship and so he had simply admired her from afar. 

Felicity smiled at him and reached up to touch his cheek sweetly. "Thank you" she said softly, sincerely. "I do appreciate the compliment but I just.....I don't know....I feel so stupid around him" she sighed. "I so badly want to make a good impression and I doubt that happened today" she finished before downing the remaining beer in one long gulp. 

Ray watched her incredulously as she downed the beer before setting the bottle on the table once more. She must be upset over this if she was drinking down all that alcohol at once. "Want another one?" he asked her after a minute of continuing to stare at her in disbelief. 

Felicity shook her head and smiled at him. "Nah.....I have work in the morning and I'm sure my cold, British employer doesn't condone coming in late and hungover after making a fool of myself today" she sniffed haughtily as she made like she was putting on airs for herself.


	3. Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity's second day on the job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently AO3 saw fit to delete chapter 2 of my story and place chapter 3 as the chapter. Sorry I haven't done replies in so long but life saw fit to throw me a curve ball as well. Here is chapter 3 and I'm off to investigate what happened to chapter 2 (the original) I'm so thankful for the wonderful reviews. They make my day!!

When the alarm began going off the following morning, Felicity couldn't help but sigh in resignation....defeat....hatred....well it didn't matter which as she felt a peculiar mix of the three rotating through her mind. She turned the alarm off but not before she glared at it evily. 

"I hate you" she mumbled before realizing this was something crazy people did, talking to inanimate objects around their homes.

She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling in silence and tried to muster the stamina to get up from the bed and face the day. After meeting up with Ray for beer and nachoes the night before, she didn't feel as if she had anymore answers or was any closer to a solution with the work situation. Sure, she could try and find another IT job but in New York City they weren't easy to come by. Ray had made a good point that perhaps the young man she worked with had mistaken her for someone he used to know from another company, even going so far as to say that Felicity had one of those faces that looked familiar to everyone to which she had promptly punched his arm before giving a small laugh. If anyone had the ability to pull Felicity out of a bad day it was Ray. 

They had parted company not long after for their own respective homes and as Felicity sat in a cab on her way to her apartment, she felt some of that depression from earlier in the day creep back into her but she had shoved it down to deal with the next morning. And here she was, in the cold light of morning, trying to find a way to solve the problems she had with her new boss. Or maybe problems with him was the wrong way to look at things. It wasn't her with the issues, if they were that even. 

She laid there in bed for another few minutes, staring at the ceiling and the fan that spun lazily to keep the room cool and still she came up with no answer for what his problem was. 

'Maybe its not for you to worry about Felicity' she finally conceded to herself as she sat up and pushed the blankets back to climb out of bed. 

As her feet touched the carpeted floor, she sighed happily, the smell of brewing coffee from the kitchen and the timed coffee maker wafting through the apartment and helping to wake her fully as she made her way down the hall and into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of the steaming brew. After pouring and preparing the coffee the way she liked best, Felicity headed over to the small table in the corner of the kitchen where her laptop and several piles of paper sat waiting for her. She curled her left leg under her body as she sat down in the chair and turned the laptop on, listening to the soft hum as it came to life and powered up, sipping at the coffee in the mug as she waited. A few moments later, the login screen popped up and she logged into the laptop and then opened her email application. After logging into that and answering some of the more personal correspondence, she opened a new window and began to type into the address bar at the top before hitting enter and waiting for the page to load up. 

She couldn't help the divisive little snort that came up as she typed her bosses name into the search bar and the company website came up in a list of hits miles long concerning himself and the company. She wasn't sure what it was she was looking for but as she scrolled through a few pages, nothing jumped out at her so she erased the search and started fresh, typing in 'how to deal with difficult employers' This time the search delivered results that were a bit more practical and she clicked on a few to see what they could offer her that might help her. She finished her coffee as she looked at page after page of suggestions on how to deal with difficult employers before glancing at the laptop clock and noticing the time. "Oh shoot" she muttered as she closed the laptop and realized she was going to be late. 

Leaving her empty mug on the table beside the laptop, she hurried down the hall and toward the bathroom. After stripping down quickly, she took a very fast shower, which did nothing to calm her nervous tendency about worrying about being late and then she toweled off and headed to her bedroom to find something to wear. Felicity sighed as she dressed in a hurry and then simply pulled her hair into a ponytail, glancing at her reflection briefly in the mirror before heading to gather her stuff and head out for the day. 'Well, I might actually make it on time' she thought as she slung her purse onto her shoulder and left her apartment, locking up and hurrying out to catch a cab to work.


	4. You're Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity thinks she can sneak in and keep Rip from knowing she's just a few minutes late. However, nothing gets past him it seems....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely reviews. I am going to try and catch up on answering each one during this weekend as it seems I finally have a bit of muse once again. Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!!!

Felicity should have known, with as long as she had lived in New York, that everything was going much too smoothly and well for her to actually not hit a snag along the way. After leaving her apartment, she managed to hail a cab and get out into the traffic quickly enough before hitting traffic just a few blocks from her apartment.

She sighed softly and sat back in the seat, arms crossed in front of her as she stared out the window at the packed and busy city streets. Another few blocks and she leaned over the seat. 

"Is there any way we can find an alternate route?" She asked hopelessly. 

The cabbie turned and shook his head. "Construction and roadblocks all up and down. This is the fastest route. We only have another three blocks til your destination" he explained. 

She sighed and looked at her watch as he spoke. She should have guessed with it being the summer that there would be roadblocks and road work to deal with. She continued to look at her watch as the cab crawled along the busy street and Felicity felt her good luck slowly running down the drain as it did so. 

Once they turned onto the street that housed the business district, the road freed up a bit and the cab made up a bit of the lost time, stopping along the curb as she threw money into the front seat and opened the door. 

"Thank you" she called to the driver as she slid out of the cab and closed the door behind herself before hurrying up the sidewalk and into the building, punching the buttons on the elevator impatiently. She glanced at her watch and then up at the numbers as they ticked by. 

"Come on" she muttered to the numbers before glancing around to make sure no one heard her.

A moment later, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open and she stepped inside, punching the button for her floor and tapping her foot impatiently as the doors closed and the numbers ticked by as the floors ticked by. When the doors opened, she stepped out and was grateful for the carpeted floor to muffle her footsteps. Luck still seemed to be on her side as Gideon wasn't at her desk and Felicity noticed that Rip's door was closed. She hurried past as quickly as she could and into her office, closing the door silently behind her and hurried to sit in her chair as if she had been there the entire time. She breathed deeply and settled her nerves as she sat down and turned to her computer, noticing she was only 5 minutes late.

She had been typing up an email to a client when there was a knock on the door and then it opened and Gideon stuck her head into the room around the door. 

"Rip was looking for you. He said he'd like to see you in his office" she said, her gaze belying her words and tone. 

Felicity felt as if a block of ice had been dropped into her stomach, smashing and splintering into pieces as she gave Gideon her attention. She gave Gideon a half smile and stood, straightening her skirt before coming toward the door. 

"Did he say what he needed to see me about?" She asked the brunette.

She received a shake of the head in response to the question and Felicity steeled her nerves as she followed the receptionist down the hall, stopping in front of the closed door to his office and taking a deep breath before knocking.

"Enter" Rip called softly and Felicity did as bidden, opening the door and hovering just inside the doorway. 

"You wanted to see me?" She asked him softly. 

"You were late" he stated matter of factly, never looking up from the paperwork in front of him on the desk. 

Felicity's jaw dropped and she was thankful that he wasn't paying any attention to her expression and face. Her mouth opened and shut several times but no sound came out. How could he possibly have known she had arrived late? Not that she was going to admit to anything. Her brain searched for a way to avoid the topic at hand. 

"Why do you say that?" She asked him, stepping further into the office and closing the door behind herself before moving toward his desk. 

He looked up from his papers and appraised her standing there in front of him. She stood there, hands on hips as she stared at him and waited for an answer. 

"I heard your footfalls on the floor and the sound of the elevator when it reached the floor. Any particular reason you were three minutes late?" He asked.

"Traffic" she stated simply, no longer caring if he thought badly of her.

He stood from his desk and slowly, in measured steps it seemed, made his way toward the window and stared down at the street below in silence. Felicity stayed silent as she watched him, waiting for him to speak.

"Miss Smoak, I expect things from my employees, very specific things such as honesty, prompt and correct work, strong work ethic, and being on time. That is the cornerstone of a good employee." He stated, never once looking at her.

Felicity listened without saying a word in explanation or protest, afraid to say anything in case he wasn't done speaking yet. When she stepped closer to where he stood, she glanced at him before following his gaze to the street.

"I have all of those things" she said softly. 

She still didn't meet his eyes when Rip spoke again. 

"I know and that's why I hired you Miss Smoak. But regardless of your potential, I will not tolerate lateness or lying. From here on, I expect you to be here on time and ready for the day or you can find yourself working for another company" 

His tone left no room for argument and Felicity could do nothing more than nod at his words. She turned to leave his office when his voice made her pause with her hand on the doorknob. 

"Have you finished answering those client emails?" He asked her.

Felicity steeled herself to keep from crying at his scolding her for the second day in a row and just nodded once curtly. 

"I was in the middle of it before you sent Gideon to get me" she said, the ice in her voice clear as she kept her back to him and biting her tongue to stop herself saying anything more that might make it where she would lose her job. 

"Good, back to it then" he said by way of dismissal and she hastily left, pulling the dokr closed behind herself before sighing in frustration and exhaustion. 

Gideon happened to be passing her and stopped when she heard the sigh. 

"Are you alright?" She asked and Felicity nodded before changing her mind and shaking her head. 

"No. I just got treated like a child and a fool and I hate him. Is he always so rude and cold?" She asked. 

Gideon laughed and Felicity glared at her. Gideon looked sufficiently guilty as she and Felicity headed toward the blonde's office. 

"He has good reason to be the way he is. You learn to live with it" she stated cryptically as they stopped at the office and Felicity opened the door. 

"Well I for one have no desire to get used to it" she said. 

She got a small, sympathetic smile from Gideon. 

"You say that now but trust me.....the pay, benefits and time off more than makes up for the coldness of our team leader" Gideon smiled brightly and Felicity giggled. 

She knew the other woman was right and her mood had improved in just the last two minutes and Felicity was grateful for her coworker. 

"I suppose I should finish those emails before Mr. Hunter decides to check up on my work" Felicity said, to which she recieved a nod from Gideon as she headed for her desk before Felicity shut the door behind herself and went back to her desk to finish the emails she had been working on.


	5. Bad Luck Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity has the worst luck. First her boss scolds her for being late then she has an embarrassing moment with an old acquaintance that she will never live down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it seems once again real life got in the way of fic writing. I apologize for the inconsistency of posting but school and work seem to sap my energy most of the time lately. Anyway, here is the next chapter. Please enjoy and thank you all for the reviews and hits.

Felicity spent the majority of the rest of her morning at her desk, answering emails and phone calls. It was for that reason, and maybe to continue avoiding her boss, that she didn't move again until her stomach began to make noises. She glanced at her watch and noticed it was nearly an hour past the time she would usually go in search of Gideon to see if the brunette wanted to go to lunch. That led her to wonder why the other woman hadn't come in search of her yet.

She pushed the thought aside as she got up from the chair, straightened her skirt as she stood and made her way across the office to the door. It was quiet and she wondered if she was the only person in the office building at the moment. She stepped into the hall and passed her bosses office, backing up in front of it when she saw that the door stood open slightly and she heard voices inside. She only caught snippets of what was said but gathered enough to understand that Mr. Hunter and Gideon were discussing her. She felt her anger bristle at this man who thought he was perfect and stomped off, continuing down the hall and toward the elevator. If he was going to treat her as an object and order her around and then think he could fire her, she planned to make it worth something. 

She had just stepped into the elevator and turned to watch the doors slide closed when she saw Gideon coming toward the same elevator. Felicity glared at the brunette and jammed on the down button hard as the doors closed and the elevator began to head for the ground level. When the doors opened, Felicity stepped out and headed out of the building and out into the busy New York streets. She walked quickly, not paying any sort of attention to where she was going or the fact that she was heading further and further from the business district.

As she walked, her anger cooled and she began to look around at the area she had been walking, smiling slightly as she recognized the area from her jlcollege days. Anytime something was bothering her or she was upset, she would walk to this spot, sitting in the small park area and watching the ducks on the water, the people walking or rollerblading by and just relaxing and forgetting about school and term papers and all the stress for a short time. She made her way a bit further into the park, smiling as she found her favorite spot and hurried over to sit down, staring at a pair of ducks on the water. She didn't notice the people today though, wrapped up in her thoughts like she seemed to be. She sighed and continued staring out at the water when a young woman who looked to be about her age stopped, looking at her as if she were familiar. 

"Felicity?" The blonde asked with a small smile. 

"Yes" she said, pulled from her thoughts as she looked up at the voice. 

"It is you, I wasn't sure" the blonde came over to sit beside her. 

It took another minute for Felicity to recognize her and when she did, her eyes widened. 

"Laurel? Laurel Lance?" She asked the other woman, who smiled brighter and nodded. 

"Yup" she said before the two embraced and she brushed her hair behind her ear, a nervous gesture if Felicity remembered correctly from their college years. 

"How have you been?" Felicity asked her as she released her from the embrace. She felt her mood begin to improve with the appearance of her former classmate. 

Laurel shrugged and then smiled at her. She held up her hand, showing her diamond engagement ring off. "Olly and I finally made it official" she said.

Felicity grinned. "Congratulations. Have you two set a date yet?" 

Laurel shook her head. "Not yet though I want it to be sooner rather than later. Now that he finally popped the question, I want to catch him for good before he gets cold feet again."

Felicity laughed at that. "I understand"

"What about you? Anyone pop the question to you yet?" Laurel ventured. 

Felicity's smile faded and turned into a frown as she shook her head, suddenly diverted to a new line of failure in her life. "No, things between Ray and I didn't work out so well. He's a doll and we managed to salvage our friendship from it but no ring yet" 

Laurel moved closer and placed an arm around her shoulder, giving her arm a sympathetic squeeze. "It'll happen. There isn't any rush" she consoled.

Felicity gave a sad smile and nodded. "Thanks."

After another minute of silence between the two, Felicity finally stood. "It was great to see you again Laurel. We should get together for drinks and catch up soon." She said with a smile. 

Laurel stood as well. "We should. Here's my card" she handed Felicity a business card with her name, cell number and office number. 

Felicity reciprocated by handing Laurel one of her own business cards and when Laurel saw it, her eyes windened. 

"Whoa, you work for Rip Hunter?" She asked as she met Felicity's eye again. 

"Not exactly. We're supposed to be business partners," she placed the emphasis on the word supposed, "but its more like I work for him. Hideous man is a slave driver. He treats me like a child" she complained. 

Laurel didn't say anything but she did smile in a knowing way that Felicity thought was rather smug and she felt the urge to tell the other woman off for it rise in her chest. She managed to suppress it though as she held out her hand to shake. Laurel did better than that, pulling her into a hug before slipping the business card into her purse and turning to leave. 

Felicity gave a glance to the card before slipping it into her skirt pocket and turning to head back in the direction of her office. She made good time walking back and she entered the office as Rip came out of his office.

"Miss Smoak. In my office" he said before turning to head back inside himself. 

Felicity glared, her good mood vanishing once more. "Yes your majesty" she mumbled under her breath as she followed him.

He turned and stopped, glaring at her. Felicity ran into him, yelping softly in surprise as she did, his hands on her waist to steady her making her wrench back and glare as well. 

"Excuse you" she mumbled. 

"What did you just say to me?" He asked her, his tone low so Gideon wouldn't hear the exchange. 

"I said 'excuse you'" she repeated, placing her own hands on her hips now.

"Not that, I meant before that comment" he crossed his arms in front of him.

Felicity flushed red in embarrassment, not wanting to repeat that particular comment. She shrugged, praying it looked nonchalant. 

"Nothing you need concern yourself with " she said.

His eyes blazed in anger and he turned to point into the door of his office, "In there, now" his voice got louder and Gideon looked up from her paperwork as Felicity stomped into the office, purposely brushing by him as she did so.


	6. Who Do You Think You Are?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity and Rip have their first major argument. Two days in and they can't seem to get along, could something deeper be at work?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Such lovely reviews for this story. Thank you all so much. Its nice to see them and they are so inspiring. This chapter picks up where the previous one left off. Please continue to review as I read and treasure each one.

Felicity had marched into the office, Rip right on her heels it seemed as the door slammed shut behind him and she felt a small knot forming in her stomach from the guilt at being so sarcastic with him. Partners or not, he was still her boss and he could dismiss her anytime he chose. 

'Probably didn't even need a reason' she thought.

She went over to sit in one of the chairs in the corner, trying to avoid his eyes.

"Who do you think you are Miss Smoak?" Rip started by asking and she glanced up at him to see how upset he was with her.

"I could ask the same of you" she threw back, though her tone wasn't as belligerent as it had been in the hall a few moments earlier. 

His face turned thunderous once more but before he could speak, Felicity plowed on. 

"I have been here two days already and you treat me as a slave and child. We are supposed to be partners, and I am sick and tired of being treated as if I don't know what I am doing here. You hired me to be a programmer for your company and I have done nothing over the last two days but be at your beck and call because you make me so nervous I can't do my job correctly around you" she said in a rush. 

His expression as she spoke changed from one of rage to one of contemplation so when she finished speaking, he had no choice but to acknowledge what she said as truth. 

"You're right" he conceded to her point that they were supposed to be business partners. "However, you are my employee as well and if I tell you to do something I expect you to get it done. I also expect the work to be quality that I can present to the shareholders" he continued. 

Felicity sat there, frowning as he spoke. She wanted to interrupt but didn't dare to since he had allowed her to speak. 

"I apologize for making you nervous but I am running a high quality company and we have a reputation to uphold and I take that extremely serious. And your little display in the hall there not five minutes ago is making me doubt your ability to cut it with this firm" he finished and Felicity felt her jaw drop. 

"I can handle myself just fine. If you didn't feel the need to micromanage me I would exceed expectations because i wouldn't wonder what I've done to see that disappointed parent look on your face every time I come through the door" she fired back. 

She was grateful the door was closed because it seemed to allow them both to state how they were really feeling without the feeling of prying eyes watching them and listening to every word they both said. 

"Miss Smoak, do you understand how much profit this company brings in each year? I have to micromanage or the projects that are taken on would fail miserably because the deadlines would never be met." Rip stated curtly. 

Felicity shook her head. "You need help. If you are that much of a control freak then I'm not sure that I want to be associated with a company like Hunter Technologies" 

Rip looked stunned at her confession but then managed to school his features into stone and he nodded once. 

"You'll have until the end of the day to make a decision. If you feel you have to go elsewhere, Gideon will tender your letter of resignation for my records" he turned away from her and she assumed that he was dismissing her from his presence. 

She stood and headed for the door, not saying another word to him. So that had been his game plan from the beginning, get her to resign and save him the trouble of having to fire her. Well Mr. Hunter was just going to have to think again. Felicity Smoak was not one to balk at a challenge or walk away from a project, even if she was miserable. She left the office and pulled the door shut behind herself with a bit more force than was necessary. She threw a glare in Gideon's direction as she headed for her office again, closing the door and clearing all the paperwork off her desk, drawing up plans and schmatics for her programming work to prove her worth to the man she couldn't stand.


	7. Felicity Smoak: Worker Bee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity has a long road to prove her worth to her boss but maybe baby steps are the answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place several weeks in the future so its well established Felicity and Rip are like oil and water but it just gets monotonous to write the day to day stuff constantly. Please enjoy and keep those reviews coming.

Felicity had spent the last few weeks being sure to keep her head down, arriving to work early and staying late into the evening working on her programming system and it was beginning to.pay off. She knew her job like the back ofher hand, could manage to stay a step ahead of Rip Hunter and meet his ridiculous deadlines on her work and she no longer felt nervous or stupid around him. That wasn't to say it was all smooth sailing though. 

There was still tension between them both and while she had apologized for giving Gideon the cold shoulder so often during the last few weeks, there was still a bit of animosity between the two women as well. She didn't devote much time to worrying about those things though and so she was surprised on Friday night when she was in her office, drawing up plans for the next phase of her work, to see Ray and Sara Lance, Laurel's baby sister, burst into her office. It was a welcome but not necessarily pleasant surprise given her partner's penchant for auiet and order, which neither of those two were known for. 

"Felicity....we're here to take you out. You haven't been answering any texts or calls and we've been worried" Sara said as she threw open the door and strode in, confident and full of self possession. 

The other blonde looked up at the intrusion and shook her head. "I can't hang out with you guys tonight. I'm nearly done with the next phase of the program operations" she said matter-of-factly. 

Sara simply smiled and gestured Ray in behind her. "Thought you might say that. So I brought back up" she grinned as Ray entered and waved at Felicity. 

"Ray, what on earth are you doing here?" Felicity asked in surprise. 

Ray grinned at her and came over to her desk to give her a hug, which Felicity returned eagerly. She pulled back and glanced at her watch, noticing that it was well past time to go home and she began to organize her work and start to put things in the desk drawers as Ray stacked it up neatly and Sara went over and bounced down in a cushy chair in the corner of the room. 

Rip heard the noise in Felicity's office and he frowned as he headed in that direction. 

"Miss Smoak, what in blazes is going on in here?" He said over the commotion of Sara bouncing in the chair like a child on a sugar high. 

Felicity looked up and glared at Rip. She then took some of the papers Ray had stacked for her from the pile and shoved them in a drawer, slamming it shut hard. Sara stopped bouncing at that and stared at the two coworkers with narrowed eyes, ready to step in if it came down to it. 

"My friends came to pick me up from work" Felicity finally spoke up but didn't look at Rip as she did. 

Sara stood as if that was the cue and came over to the group and extended her hand to the ginger haired male. When he didn't immediately take her hand, she frowned. 

"He's a friendly little devil" she mumbled loud enough that he would hear her.

Felicity cracked a smile and hid it behind her desk as she knelt to pick up a paper that had fallen beside it and when she stood again, she made sure her face held no trace of her amusement. She noticed Ray frowning as he watched Rip staring at Felicity and he moved a little closer. 

"Goodnight Miss Smoak. I want to see you first thing tomorrow to discuss your latest project" Rip said stiffly before turning and leaving without wishing either of her friends a good night or even introducing himself to either one. 

Felicity watched him walk away and frowned before turning to her friends. 

"I am so sorry guys" she said softly, embarrassed by her boss' behavior. 

Ray came over and wrapped an arm around Felicity's shoulder. Sara did the same, squeezing her friends arm sympathetically and smiling at her. 

"It's okay. Pretentious jerks are the worst. Let's go out for drinks tonight" she said.

"The way he was looking at me. What did he think I was going to do?" Ray asked, clearly hurt if his tone was anything to go by. 

Sara released Felicity and moved to hug Ray. Felicity gave him a hug as well before gathering her stuff to head out with the two of them. 

"I'm ready guys. Let's go get some food and drinks and cheer up" Felicity said as she locked up the desk and grabbed her items. 

She led her two friends out of the building, not noticing that Rip was watching them leave for the night with narrowed eyes as he saw that Ray had his arm across Felicity's shoulder as they walked, talking animatedly about something or other. 

~Later that evening~

Felicity was sitting in the booth with Sara beside her on one side doing shots and Ray on the other talking about something that had happened to the both of them in college. Sara was laughing loudly at him as they all drank and ate nachos from one of the three plates in the middle of the table. It felt like it had been forever since she had gone out like this with friends and she realized that she had spent far too long lately neglecting her social life and friends as she listened to Ray beginning to slur his words and Sara saying something about wanting to do karaoke with the two of them. Felicity grinned and stood up on the booth table and began to sing loudly and very drunkenly before being tugged back down beside the two still seated by Sara, who giggled when Felicity landed in her lap. 

"Hello gorgeous" the younger woman flirted and Felicity grinned and leaned in to kiss Sara on the nose. 

"Hi" she said with a small laugh. 

Sara had a way of putting Felicity at ease. While Laurel and herself had been school friends at college, Felicity had always been closer to Sara when it came to social events. She was everything Felicity wished she was brave enough to be. She and Felicity had grown closer over the years and she always tried to make time for the younger blonde, treating her as if she were her own little sister since Sara had a tendency to get herself and those with her into trouble more often than not. 

Sara played with a strand of Felicity's hair as she stayed put, not minding the other girl in her lap. 

"Let's go up and sing something together?" She asked Felicity before batting her lashes at the other woman. 

Felicity smiled, unable to resist her friend being adorable. "Alright. Let me get off you first though" she said before bursting into giggles at the innuendo in that sentence. 

Sara joined in with her giggles and shoved her gently off her lap, Felicity sliding off her and into the seat again before following Sara out of the booth and up onto the stage. They picked a song, or rather Sara did and waited nervously for the DJ to say they could come up and perform. Both girls ordered more drinks for themselves while they waited, finally being called on by the DJ a mere five minutes later. 

They were in the middle of their rendition of the latest pop song they had heard when they dissolved in a fit of drunken giggles at Sara getting the words wrong and before long, they were booed off stage but it strangely didn't bother Felicity as she helped Sara to stumble off the small stage and back to where Ray was sitting in the booth. When he suggested they head home and call it a night, Felicity had to admit that it sounded like a good idea, especially since she had to be up early for work the next morning. After helping Sara into a cab and having Ray text Laurel to let her know, Felicity grabbed Ray's hand and let him lead her down the street, the warm evening air doing nothing to sober her up from her tipsy state. 

"Ray.....I want you to know I think you're a great friend" she said after a few minutes walking beside him silently. 

She was fairly proud of herself for not slurring her words and smiled up at him, feeling good about cheering him up when he gave her a smile as well. 

"So are you 'Licity" he said softly. "Are you happy though, with that job I mean. You're boss, he seems like a real jerk. And he was really rude to all of us" 

Her smile became a frown as the memory crept back into her mind. "I know and I will talk to him tomorrow about it. He had no right to behave that way to you or Sara" 

They walked together for a few more blocks in silence until they arrived at Felicity's building. 

"End of the line" Ray said with a small smile. 

Felicity returned the smile and then hugged Ray. "Thanks for tonight. We need to do this more often" 

She gave him another hug before hurrying up the steps and unlocking the door. She waved at her friend and then hurried inside and up to her apartment. After dropping her keys in the bowl, locking the door and flopping down on the couch, she sighed softly, staring up at the ceiling for a few minutes before getting up and heading to bed.


End file.
